I WON'T LIE....

posted Saturday, 7 January 2006

I wanted to quickly update you all and let you know that I am now back at home, resting comfortably (ok - maybe not that comfortably, but... what can you do?) According to Dr Dultz, the surgery went very well - I'm not really sure what that means, but I suppose it's a good thing, right? Mom and Dad came out Tuesday night, and took me to the hospital on Wednesday. As Nancy mentioned, the surgery lasted about 5 1/2 hours. I don't really remember much about the recovery room, until they were ready to move me to my room... and even then, I only have cloudy memories... being in the elevator, rolling into my room, where they said - look - you already have flowers here waiting for you (thanks susie & jaeger!), mom and dad finally finding me (nobody told them they were moving me to a room)... then the painful memories.... trying to help the nurses get the was of blankets out from under me (they wanted me to roll over onto my side, which seemed like a bad idea... and was proven to be a bad idea), trying to get up to go the bathroom, not being able to go to the bathroom (awesome), trying to get comfortable to sleep (easier said than done), just to have doctors and nurses waking me up every ten minutes... good times!

Thursday too was a bit of a blur. Mom and dad had gotten a flat tire on their way home from the hospital on Wed night and didn't get home until very late... therefore, didn't get to the hospital until mid-morning. My cell phone had died and I was going a little (understatement) stir-crazy sitting in the room alone. I finally figured out how to get the tv turned on... but it made me a bit nauseous, so that didn't really keep me entertained. Next, I had them turn on my phone, and I started making phone calls to the few people for whom I had memorized phone numbers - basically, that included Nancy, Jaeger and my work friends (whom I could find extensions from the front desk!). Vanita was at her desk and she offered to come over and keep me company, so finally I could relax a little bit! My folks arrived shortly thereafter, and I finally felt some of the anxiety dissipate. I had been extremely thirsty, but couldn't really reach up to the bedside table to get the glass of juice that was sitting there, and the nurses were incredibly busy so it seemed ridiculous to page them to assist me with a sip of juice. Once my visitors were there, I was well hydrated though!

When lunch arrived, I attempted to eat some jello and ice cream, but my stomach wasn't feeling great. If you'll remember, I had gotten fairly sick from the anesthesia the first time around, and once the zofran wore off, I had similar experiences this time too. As I was finally purging all the cranberry juice, jello and ice cream (I felt a lot better afterwards!), my friend Annette showed up (Annette was the woman that I met at Bob Evans, back at the beginning of this whole journey...) The box of chocolates she brought was definitely enjoyed by all my visitors (and by me... once I moved to solid foods!) My mom didn't recognize her at first because her thick, curly hair looked so fantastic! Shortly thereafter, Mike showed up for a quick visit before he headed down to the Philadelphia airport. These two visitors meant a lot to me, especially since they both drove so far to see me and I was surprised at just how comforting it was to see them.

While Annette and Mike were there, I had pushed the button on my PCA morphine machine (which was always stressful because I wanted the morphine, but I didn't want to press the button too often because I didn't want them to think I was a whimp), only to immediately feel burning in my hand where my IV was... suddenly, my hand began to swell. This did not seem right. I paged the nurse, who came in and turned off the machine, exclaiming that my IV had infiltrated and that she would be back in 10 minutes. What! I couldn't believe that I had to sit there in pain for 10 minutes, as my hand continued to swell. Gosh - looking back, I felt pretty bad for the nurses there - what a tough job and clearly, there was more work than they could easily handle. She came back and pulled out my IV... now the trick would be to get another IV started... with my fried veins (from the chemo), that would be no easy task. Another nurse was called in and the two of them worked at my arm for a while and finally got an IV started in the underside of my forearm. At this point, I had been off the morphine for over an hour, so we decided to just switch to oral percocet. Step one in getting home was accomplished.

Around 4pm, my body was finally turning it's systems back on, as I emerged triumphantly from the bathroom exclaiming "I went pee-pee in the potty!!!" The nurses all cheered for me. Ahhh... the wonder of small victories!

Later that evening, Nancy and Heather stopped by. Heather offered to stay overnight with me on Thursday, and once we had convinced the nurse that she was my sister, they had no problems with that! My dinner tray arrived and by this time, I was famished! I hadn't really eaten anything solid in close to 48 hourse, so I was ready. I took a look at my tray and realized that they brought me a liquid dinner - soup, jello & ice cream. Yuk! Mom tracked down the nurse and requested a real meal... which was easier said than done! At around 7pm, the unit secretary came in with a tray that she had scavenged from the kitchen (which was closed at the time). It was a hodge podge of food, but I didn't care. The bean salad and fruit plate hit the spot... as did the cheese quesadilla that Heather went and got from Mexican Village.


Speaking of Mexican Village... for some reason, I was adament that my parents go and eat at Mexican Village during my surgery... I gave them directions to this little shack of a restaurant, which is right near the hospital. Easily the best mexican food in the vicinity, M Village has been the site of many farewell lunches and fun group dinners, where they will provide a big tub of ice to chill the byo coronas (or other beverage of choice). In fact, as they were wheeling me down to the OR, I looked up off the gurney and repeated one last time... "please... go to Mexican Village and get something to eat". They did actually listen to me and I am fairly certain that they were glad they did!


Around 9:30, my visitors departed, except for sister Heather. She settled in to do some work, but had a problem with her computer. Responding to a call for tech support, Tina stopped by the hospital for a quick visit & to give Heather a new laptop... We even managed to secure a high speed internet connection, so Heaton was productive and working as I drifted off to sleep. It was extremely comforting to have her there. For example, when the interns came in at 5am and they pulled down my blankets and gown to check the incisions... and then left, without pulling them back up (what!?), Heather came over and helped me get situated again. My only thought is that the interns were uncomfortable in the situation, since they were close to my age (?) because I couldn't believe that they would just be that inconsiderate.

Friday morning, Dr Dultz stopped back by. She checked things out and said that I should try to go home that day, if I was feeling up to it. I ate well at breakfast and began building some strength. Mom and Dad came by again, on their way out of town. Jim and Vanita visited in the late afternoon. Vanita was my ride home. I had ordered Palak Paneer off the vegetarian menu (which was funny, since the first item on the vegetarian menu was "broth - chicken or beef"... weird...) and was fairly excited for lunch. So, we waited until after lunch to sign out and head home.

The ride home seemed to take forever. Every little bump in the road hurt. By the time I got home, I was exhausted... funny just how much surgery takes out of you. Vanita set me up on the couch and headed to Walgreens to drop off my prescriptions. After a nap, Charlene came by, to return Otis -- boy I missed that pup! It was amazing how perceptive he was, as he was extremely gentle with me.

After dinner, Bonny arrived - my nurse for the evening. I was extremely thankful for her care. She helped me bathe (though I couldn't get wet from the waste up, since I had drains hanging out of each armpit, to collect the fluid that would build up as a result of the surgery -- and I thought it was bad the first time, with one drain!). She fluffed my pillows, managed my medications and just handled me with kid gloves, in general. I was in pretty significant pain as I laid down to sleep - fearful that I had checked out of the hospital too early, she helped me relax and get comfortable. It wasn't until after Bonny left on Saturday that I realized the full extent of the work she had done while she was there. Not only did she take care of me... she mopped the floors and cleaned my bathroom - things I wouldn't have asked anybody to do, but was extremely thankful that she did them.

Sorry this entry took so long to get posted. I wrote the first two paragraphs shortly after arriving home from the hospital, but couldn't type for long, without getting sore. In fact, I couldn't really do much of anything without getting sore. I had, again, significantly under-estimated the amount of pain I would be in and the lack of strength that I would have (I couldn't even open my sliding glass door to let the dog out, much less pour myself a glass of juice). I am thankful for all the people who answered my calls for help (and especially those who went above and beyond that call to make me comfortable) in my first days after surgery. I know it is cliche, but I honestly can not imagine what I would have done without you.

All ready to go... waiting for





Just in case they try to use my "bad arm" for blood pressure or a needle (I can't do either in my left arm, due to the removal of my lymph nodes)



Pretty flowers that were waiting in my hospital room... (thanks Susie & Jaeger)



Back at home, sporting my surgical bra & drains...